359 to 40: After-school Snack

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap."

~ Robert Fulghum

I love the idea of milk and cookies after school, but the last thing fruit/veggie-phobic Esmé needs is more cookies.

So we’ve compromised with the after-school smoothie.  It’s the only way we get the bananas and berries and cherries into her.  And I get my nurturing-mamma-image fix.

Don’t let her late-afternoon glare fool you.  She consistently asks for seconds.

And a VitaMix is on my wishlist… :)

360 to 40: Tired…

It is good to be tired and wearied by the futile search after the true good, that we may stretch out our arms to the Redeemer.

~Blaise Pascal

So… this is what Little Miss did during the 3-mile drive home from school this first day of Kindergarten, as eager as I was to quiz her about the day!  The catnap was enough to rejuvenate her for the rest of the day, though.

Asked what she learned:  “I didn’t learn ANY math or reading.  Just the 1-2-3 rule.  You get one number each time you do something wrong, and if you get to 3, you have sit in the quiet chair.  I only got to 2!”

Yep, that would be something new.

She is adamant that she wants to go back tomorrow.  Not sure how she would feel if she had actually gotten to 3…

361 to 40: Kindergartener

First Day Of School
( Original Author Unknown )

She started school this morning,
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as she took her place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

This little girl so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though she must have grown
To girlhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred by hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I mar her first big day

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn't understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She's not a baby anymore --
She's in Kindergarten today.

362 to 40: Cousin Crazies

There is an appointed time for everything. 
And there is a time for every event under heaven ~
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

363 to 40: Small Gifts

Life is a gift, given in trust – like a child.

~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

364 to 40: Blue Moon

“At the end of the day, faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don't really expect it. It's like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And it's not so important, happy ever after, just that it’s happy right now. See, once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you, and once in awhile people may even take your breath away.”

~ Meredith Grey quotes

365 to 40: Birthday Cake

Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.